Wicketkeeper-batsman Jitesh Sharma broke into the Vidarbha senior side in the 2013-14 season on the back of strong performances in the 2012-13 Cooch Behar Trophy, where he scored 537 runs in 12 innings with two centuries and a fifty. He made his List A debut in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2013-14 and for the first two seasons played only limited-overs matches for Vidarbha, batting mostly in the top order.

In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2015-16, Jitesh finished as the third-highest run-getter in the tournament, scoring 343 runs at a strike rate of 143.51 with one century and two fifties. His attacking approach at the top of the order caught the eye of Mumbai Indians, who bought him for Rs 10 lakh in the IPL 2016 auction.

Jitesh made his Ranji Trophy debut in the 2015-16 season but had an ordinary tournament, scoring 180 runs in seven matches at an average of 18.